


The Time of Ten Suns

by lucathia



Category: The Legend of the Sun Knight
Genre: Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Clones, Gen, Houyi and the Ten Suns, Humor, word count 10000+
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-01-17 14:51:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1391725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucathia/pseuds/lucathia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One Sun was more than enough. Really. Inspired by the Chinese myth, The Legend of the Ten Suns. Set after V6.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A response to the end of V6, inspired by comments exchanged with 15b about having clones of Sun running about. I was also translating a 4-koma that talked about Houyi, a mythological Chinese archer who shot down nine of the ten suns in the sky to save the land. Hence why I decided on having ten Suns, haha (otherwise it would be twelve). Spoilers for V6.

What I was staring at just now reminded me of a legend I'd heard from Teacher during my lessons. It was a well known legend among archers.

It was said that long, long ago, even before the establishment of the Church of the God of Light, there used to be ten suns until a "hero" came and saved the continent from their harsh rule. In those days, ten suns hung in the air, beating relentlessly down on the people. Days were filled with sweat-soaked shirts and wilting plants, dried up riverbeds and empty wells. Starvation and death plagued the continent. It wasn't until a hero rose to save the land that the continent was finally freed from the never-ending heat, but the hero nearly went too far.

He could have talked to the suns and persuaded them to leave. He could have negotiated and asked them to go back to taking turns. Whether that would have solved things or not was anyone's guess, as that was not the path he had taken.

Instead, he took his arrows, raised his bow, and shot down the suns, one-by-one, almost dooming the land to eternal darkness.

It was said that the hero was one of the Shadow God's men, sent on a mission to bring absolute twilight to the world. Daylight was the God of Light's domain while nighttime was the Shadow God's (in the meantime, the God of War laughed at both, for war waged no matter when). 

The Shadow God could not let the God of Light keep His advantage of having ten suns doing His bidding, and it was an undeniable truth that the continent could not bear the intensity of ten suns for much longer. Even the God of Light agreed something had to be done. He just didn't think it would come at the cost of the suns' lives.

The hero took up his bow and shot down the suns, becoming a legend, greatly revered and later regarded as the most skilled archer in all history as well. His was a name never absent from archery lessons. I knew it well, and I admired his skills, even though I didn't agree with his methods.

He would have shot down all ten suns if not for the God of Light's interference, who stopped him before he shot down the last sun. Gods were not supposed to personally interfere, but even so, the God of Light could not stand by and let the world fall into complete darkness.

The last sun came to be known as something precious, something to be protected.

Some say that that was when the Church of the God of Light was established. Its main function was not the worship of the God of Light but rather the protection of the last shred of light. The citizens all knew how important the sun was to them, and hence they worshiped their Sun Knight perhaps even more than they believed in the God of Light. 

Legend had it that no Sun Knight had ever died in office, as loved and protected by the God of Light as he was. As the last of our light, the one person we were to serve above all else, it was a given that we could not let him fall to harm. Otherwise, we would surely fall into darkness.

Yet there Sun was on the conference table, shirt dyed scarlet, pupils dilated.

I heard a scream echo around the room. 

I grabbed at my throat. It was only then that I realized the scream had come from me. I couldn't breathe. 

_How can Sun be dead?_

Hell appeared after that, his forceful aura flattening me, forcing me to buckle. It woke me up. I stared upwards with tears in my eyes, but even so, I could see all the little details in Hell's newly gained wings and the infuriating upward quirk of his mouth. 

Sun had given me so much more than I could ever repay him. He had given me a second chance, and he had also given me better eyesight than I could never hope for. I squeezed shut these eyes that Sun had given me, wishing that gouging them out could return Sun to life. But it wouldn't. 

Like what he had done for me, Sun would have sacrificed anything for his brothers. He would have done the same for Hell.

I opened my eyes and glared at Hell.

_How could Hell betray him?_

He had no right to smile. My hands clenched, fingernails digging into my palms. 

If not for Judgment, I would probably have put an arrow through that misplaced smile. Judgment immediately took charge and declared that we would never let Sun's murderer off. 

The Demon King merely laughed and said he would be waiting. Then, he flickered out of existence.

I didn't know what to do. 

Judgment did.

Judgment sent for the Pope.

My heart jolted.

_That's right! The Pope knows Resurrection._

Like how I had been revived, Sun could be revived too. New hope flared in my chest. The guilt that gnawed away at me ebbed. Just a bit.

The Pope was hesitant about casting Resurrection, but I knew Sun would never choose death. He would never abandon us. Especially when we couldn't lose him.

The Pope drew the magic circle. The Pope's chance of performing a perfect Resurrection was only a one eighth chance, and even if he wanted to, he could not sacrifice a part of himself to guarantee that Sun would suffer no side effects.

It was selfish of us to wish Sun back to life when there was a seven eighth chance that he would suffer a side effect -- _he's already lost his sight and his golden hair, what else must he suffer_ \-- but I knew Sun. He had given his sight for me. He had given his blond hair for Judgment. He would give everything and anything for us.

He would not care what he might lose or suffer. His complete lack of self regard made me want to pin the mini Sun doll I had to the wall, but there was nothing I could do to change his self-sacrificing ways. It was what made him Sun. We all knew that was who he was.

I clasped my hands and prayed, my lips wobbling.

When the light dispersed and the Pope collapsed by the table, I hurried forward to support him, but I immediately noticed a strange sight before me. I didn't need superhuman sight to tell that something was very wrong.

Very, very wrong.

Sun had black hair. Sun had blue hair. Sun had short hair. Sun had curls. 

It was not that I was fixated on hair. It was just that the hair was the easiest to distinguish. It was not that Sun had a combination of all that I had just described either.

Then, Sun pointed a sword at us, and it didn't fly out of his hand. 

Another Sun growled, "Who are you?"

One Sun looked entirely normal with long blond hair and blue eyes and didn't seem to be a master swordsman nor an amnesiac, but his normalcy actually made him stick out. Three other Suns had white hair, but two of them quickly covered it up with holy element once they realized the state of their hair. 

I could only stare.

"Sun?" someone blurted.

Seven pairs of eyes swerved to stare at the speaker, who turned out to be Blaze. Apparently, not all of them were the Sun Knight. The one with blue hair, the one who had asked us who we were, and the one with white hair did not immediately glance over. They only did after they saw the others do so.

"What's going on..." I said weakly.

The Pope, who I had been supporting, glanced up at me. "Well, I didn't expect that the God of Light would answer this way."

It was true that we wanted Sun back at all costs... _But we never expected that we would end up with ten of him!_

Just like the legend my teacher used to tell me, we now had ten Suns on our hands. I hoped that our land would not become ravaged like the land in the myths, but watching the ten Suns before me only gave me a sense of foreboding.

Archer I may be, I was sure I could not be like the hero in the myths and solve our current dilemma.

_But does that matter, and is it really a dilemma? I never agreed with his methods anyway._

I decided to toss caution to the wind, giving way to my emotions. I pulled the closest Sun to me into an embrace.

"Thank the God of Light you're back, Sun!"

It mattered not that we now had ten of him.

_Sun is Sun!_

I was positive we would be able to figure out which one of them was our original Sun, and we would love the rest just as much.

At least, I thought so.

But Earth always believed that I was too optimistic.


	2. Chapter 2

_Dearest Ann,_

_What would you do if you ever came across more than one of your sister Alice? How would you treat each and every one of them? Would you consider one of them the "original" Alice and look for her among them all?_

_If it ever happened to me, and you needed to find me among a large crowd, I strongly believe you would be able to find me._

_I would look for you too._

* * *

Arranging for ten Suns to live in the Holy Temple was no easy feat. The first suggestion was for all of them to stay in Sun's room, even though it would get crowded, but it was actually one of the Suns who turned the suggestion down.

The Sun who had pointed his sword at us shook his head and sternly said, "You don't know us. You don't know how this situation came to be. You should watch us better than that."

We'd all stared at him, stunned. Was this actually Sun? The way he had held his sword was much more masterful than I ever recalled, and I just couldn't imagine Sun saying something like that in such a tone.

I was probably not the only one who immediately crossed this Sun off the list of possibilities of being our Sun. That left us nine other Suns to consider. 

Because of his words, we decided to each take one Sun under our wing. That way we could watch them more closely, get to know them better, and protect them better too.

The Sun that seemed the most normal got assigned to Judgment. He said not a word when it happened and merely turned in the direction of Judgment. 

One of the white haired ones who had covered his hair up with holy element got assigned to Moon. Upon studying him more closely, I realized he seemed to look more mature than the Sun I recalled, but that could very well be a result of Resurrection. 

The other white haired Sun who had covered his hair up with holy element got assigned to Blaze. He had smiled at Blaze, a perfect Sun Knight smile on his face, though it was actually somewhat stiff for a smile, as if it had been too long since he had smiled like that. His clothing was rather plain. 

The white haired Sun who had not covered his hair up with holy element got assigned to Cloud. I was surprised that he'd turned and greeted Cloud with no problem whatsoever. He didn't seem to have any difficulties locating him. His clothes were rather robe-like.

Though each one of them reacted a little differently than what I recalled of Sun, I thought these Suns resembled our Sun the most.

The one with black hair was also a possibility. He got assigned to Metal. He was overflowing with dark element, just like the time he'd absorbed all the dark element from the Valley of Trizer and when he had battled against Charlotte earlier. Could this be our Sun?

Next, there was another Sun who looked fairly like our Sun, but he hadn't known us and had questioned our identity. His clothes were a lot less layered than what Sun normally wore, a casual black vest and white shirt. I noticed that he'd been glancing around, taking in his surroundings in confusion. He had been especially startled upon seeing me and Ice. At first, I considered that he might have amnesia, but then his blue eyes landed on me, giving me a jolt. He was likely not our Sun because of it, but I couldn't be more relieved to learn that this Sun could _see_. We put him with Ice. 

All the rest of the Suns seemed too different to be our Sun, but we could never rule out the possibility that a side effect from Resurrection might be what had caused the dissimilarities. I never thought I'd ever see Sun with short hair. It only came down past his chin. He got assigned to Storm. Short haired Sun had his arms folded and didn't seem to like the arrangement. 

The Sun with curly, wavy hair got assigned to Earth. He had looked at Earth with a strange expression. In fact, he'd observed all of us with a strange expression, eyes lingering in disbelief on Judgment. This Sun actually looked a bit younger than the rest, and the way his hair curled reminded me of Sun's teacher, Neo. Like the Sun who had questioned our identity, his clothes were a lot less layered than I was used to seeing. In fact, the sleeves were so short, his arms were showing! 

Regardless of what he was wearing, when his eyes landed on me, I gave him a smile. Here was likely another Sun who could see! 

The sword wielding Sun was the first I'd crossed off the list. Even though he looked like our Sun more than many of the others, he just behaved too differently from Sun. He got assigned to Stone.

That left me the Sun with blue hair. He had been the one nearest to me, the one I'd randomly pulled to hug. He hadn't pulled away or anything when I'd done so, which I was thankful for. In fact, he had even brought his arms around me and hugged me back. His hair was just as long as the usual length I recalled on our Sun, except it was blue. 

I couldn't fathom why Sun would ever dye his hair blue. The Sun I knew was too attached to his blond hair to do something like that. Even the color scheme of his clothes was different from his usual white and gold. 

Since he was the Sun assigned to me, it was up to me to figure things out!

As we walked toward my room, we exchanged questions to figure out which parts of our histories intersected. While we were confused over having ten Suns, it must be just as confusing, no, even more confusing for them to be in this situation. Just as we were trying to figure out if they were our Sun, they were probably trying to figure out if we were their Twelve Holy Knights. For most of them, at least. The one assigned to Ice didn't seem to know us.

"You look a little older than I remember," Blue-haired Sun said. 

"Really?" I asked as I opened to the door to my room. "How old are you?"

"I just assumed office," was his answer. 

"That happened four years ago for me!" I exclaimed. _Does this mean he might be a younger version of our Sun? But that still wouldn't explain his blue hair. Was there any point in time when Sun dyed his hair blue..._ I gestured at the room. "Here's where you'll be staying. It's nothing much."

Since Sun had gone missing, we had been too busy evacuating the citizens, searching for Sun, and then devising a plan to battle against Charlotte and Stephen that I had rarely returned to my room. For the past month, I was always worried about Sun's whereabouts and well being. I had only ever stopped by my room to grab supplies before I would be out there again, doing anything I could to help. There had been no time for rest or peace, and definitely no time to tidy my room. It was just as I had left it -- super messy.

I tugged on the corner of blue-haired Sun's shirt to remind myself that we had gotten Sun back. Even though we hadn't expected we would end up with ten Suns, Sun was Sun. I never ever wanted to ever see Sun so lifeless again. Unfortunately, the sight of Sun on top of that conference table in blood soaked clothes was one I doubted I would ever be able to forget. 

Blue-haired Sun gently laid his hand on mine. Then, he closed his hand around mine and pulled me into the room. He took a quick glance around and exclaimed, "Your room still looks the same!" 

"Do you think of me as a messy person?" I couldn't help but ask. _I'm usually not this messy!_

Instead of answering, he pulled me right over to where I had my straw dolls. I usually had them stashed away, but I hadn't been able to clear anything because of my time away. 

"Well, you always have your voodoo thingamabobs everywhere, nails here, strands of hair there. This is no different. Oh is that one of me?" He pointed at the straw doll of Sun I had taken out to pray for Sun's safety. He peered at it curiously.

"Ah yes," I replied. "That's the one of you, Sun."

"Sun, huh..." he mumbled. "No wonder the doll has my original hair color. And from all those other 'mes' I saw, I take it I'm the anomaly?" 

"So you're not Sun?" I asked in a small voice. Even though I had asked, I was starting to think that instead of this being a younger version of our Sun, he was probably someone different altogether. 

Without answering out loud, he turned and reached a hand up. Was this his answer? I blinked when he moved to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. My eyes were still stuck on his hand when he leaned in closer to me and whispered next to my other ear, "Leaf, I knew you were cute, but I didn't know you'd grow up to look so fine!"

Then, he stepped back and winked at me, like how Storm always tried to wink at girls.

My jaws dropped. I had considered it, but to me, Grisia was the Sun Knight. How could he ever be... "You're the Storm Knight?"

Then, to him, who was Sun?


	3. Chapter 3

_Dearest Ann,_

_What would you do if you found out that your sister Alice is not actually a perfect princess but rather a footloose charmer?_

_Would you find it difficult to regard her as such, always superimposing what you think you know about her?_

_I find it difficult not to slip. I really hope I can overcome that._

* * *

The first night with our ten Suns didn't end just like that. Although each of us were probably going through mundane actions like talking, bathing, and arranging where the Suns should sleep, things were never mundane with Sun around, especially now that we had ten of him.

My Sun had already given me a huge shock when he revealed that he wasn't even "Sun." To me, Grisia and the Sun Knight were one and the same. I couldn't imagine him not being the Sun Knight, nor could I ever imagine the Sun Knight not being Grisia.

That was why, even after learning that he wasn't "Sun" but rather "Storm," I wasn't able to turn my thinking around right away. When he helped me heat up the bath with fire magic, I absentmindedly said, "Thanks, Sun." Immediately following that, I paused and frowned.

"Uh, what should I call you?" I asked and peered up at him. 

Perhaps it was because he _wasn't_ Sun but rather Storm, known for being carefree and footloose, that his answer was so lighthearted that it bordered on being flippant. He said with a shrug, "Why not just Sun? Or what about Blue Sun? I have blue hair!" He twirled a strand of his hair, as if trying to prove to me that yes, he had blue hair.

I nibbled my lips. "But you're not Sun, right? Wouldn't calling you Sun be disrespectful?" 

Just because I couldn't stop slipping and calling him Sun didn't mean it was okay for me to keep doing it. I was already feeling guilty. 

He shrugged again and grinned cheekily. "You could always call me Grisia, but I don't think that solves anything."

It really wouldn't solve anything. If I were to call out that name, on top of having him respond, I'd get nine other people responding!

I gazed at his hair, still unused to seeing that color on him, but it did make his eyes appear even bluer. He must be quite a charming Storm Knight, and unlike my Storm, he didn't look the least bit tired! "Can I call you Blue?"

Right after I spoke, he dramatically placed a hand on his chest. "My first nickname! I'm so touched, Strawberry."

I blinked before I found a smile coming over my face, causing him to tilt his head. How I had longed to hear that nickname! These past few weeks had been much too long, much too silent, much too bereft of Sun.

He peered curiously at me. "Not a bad smile, Strawberry."

I smiled even more at hearing the nickname again, causing him to become even more confused. But true to the nature of Storm, he shrugged it off and grinned at me without making a big deal out of it. His reaction wasn't what I'd come to expect of Sun, of Grisia, nor was it what I would expect of Storm, but Grisia was always the type to carry out his role perfectly. If the Sun I knew had been chosen as Storm, wouldn't this be exactly the way he would act?

A perfect Storm Knight. 

He wasn't Sun, and in many ways, he couldn't be any more unfamiliar, but... it was comforting finding out the similarities. I was glad to have him here. Additionally, he was quite skilled at heating up the bath too. He claimed that his strongest element was the wind element, followed by the holy element, but he wasn't bad at gathering the water element and the fire element either. He'd explained that both were super useful for bathing purposes.

It seemed that Blue was very fond of bathing. He was even humming as he gathered towels and rummaged through my bathing salts, soap, and shampoo. 

"Why don't you bathe first?" I suggested, brows knitting together as I thought of how I'd have to wait a bit longer. After being away for so long, I was looking forward to finally having the chance to bathe and change into clean clothes. I was covered in dirt, sweat, blood, and even the guts of undead creatures, but even so, I couldn't bring it in myself to bathe first, not when Blue was so eager to bathe. 

He widened his eyes at me. "Aren't you going to bathe? You know you stink right now, right? While you're adorably handsome, even I would think twice about letting you hug me again!"

I didn't know why Sun never frequented the public baths, but he had always avoided them like the plague, so I thought Blue would be similar and would want to bathe alone. 

I was wrong.

I'd bathed with many of the other holy knights before, especially when we were younger and didn't have our own private baths, but Sun had stopped bathing with us early on. It was decisively strange having Blue bathe next to me when he was nearly a spitting image of Sun, other than the fact that he was younger and had blue hair.

What was even stranger was that he was now holding up a bottle of shampoo and offering to wash my hair! I hadn't had anyone wash my hair since I was six. 

"I can't ever imagine Sun doing this," I murmured.

Blue merely hummed in response and dug his fingers into my scalp, his gentle ministrations soothing. The water was warm and comforting against my skin. I found myself relaxing. Here I was, bathing with someone who was technically a stranger, yet wasn't at the same time, and he was washing my hair.

I found myself chuckling, all of the tension that had built up over the past month draining away. I wiggled my toes, hoping they weren't becoming wrinkled just yet. Blue was taking his time with my hair. 

"See? Baths are the best!" Blue exclaimed.

"I never said they weren't?" I responded, tilting my head backwards a bit, trying to catch sight of him, but he pushed me back with his hands, a silent protest to get me to stay still. 

"Your expression totally implied it!" he protested. Then, without warning, a torrent of water suddenly rained down on me, washing away the bubbles.

I spluttered, my bangs plastered against my face. "Sun!" I immediately shouted as I pushed my wet bags out of my face. 

"Uh uh, you said you'd call me Blue, remember?" he laughed and splashed water at me. It really wasn't fair when he could manipulate it! Even when I tried to duck, the water still hit me head on. My bangs were once again stuck to my face, but even though I couldn't see, I still knew what direction he was in! I turned and scooped the water, attempting to hurl it at him.

He laughed, and when I parted my hair, I was just in time to see water curling around him without hitting him at all. 

"Your claim of being 'not bad at the water element' is completely an understatement," I said and then smiled. "That's really amazing."

Blue grinned, but even my praise didn't stop him from continuing to be silly. Just as he threw the water at me, a resounding BOOM split the air. He blinked, held his hands up in the air, and said, "That wasn't me."

The rest of the water he had levitated fell back down with a splatter. Meanwhile, water dripped down my face and hair. I tried to wipe it off.

I would dearly hope it wasn't him. If that loud boom had come from hitting me with water, I would be short a head by now. I spit a strand of hair out of my face, wondering if Blue would concede to giving me a strand of his pretty blue hair. 

Following the boom, I could hear footsteps hurrying outside of my door.

"We should check it out too," I said, worried.

Blue nodded and very conveniently dried us off after we got out. With a flair of wind magic, he even dressed us up in a flash. All signs were pointing towards him being very comfortable with his magic. He even cast the Wings of God spell on us so that we could rush out quicker.

The sight that greeted us across the corridor was one we should have been prepared for, but maybe we had all been too overwhelmed that we had completely forgotten to address a very important problem -- there was one Sun with black hair and he was giving off an alarming amount of dark element. Even though he had seemed fine in the conference room, maybe because of the presence of all the other Suns, our experiences with Sun at the Valley of Trizer and while he battled Charlotte should have made us warier! Asking Metal to deal with him by himself was really too much!

I stared at what used to be Metal's room. It was now in smithereens. Metal had been blown out of the room, his clothes in tatters. Blood dripped down from his arms and lips. Alarmed, a bunch of healing spells landed on him at nearly the same time. He groaned, eyes barely fluttering open. We followed his gaze to the middle of the room.

There, in Metal's wrecked room, stood black haired Sun, dark element swirling around him, the reason why Metal was in such a state. Sun had his eyes shut tightly and his arms wrapped around himself, his hands gripping his shoulders so hard that his knuckles turned white, a lone figure in the raging storm. 

"Judgment, no..." Sun whispered, his voice barely audible, his face pale. 

By this time, we had all gathered, including the nine other Suns. Some had changed their clothes. Some had not. Short-haired Sun, who I had seen rushing out of Storm's room next to mine, was one of the ones who hadn't changed. 

"Sun!" I called out in worry. "Sun, we're here! We're all here!"

I wasn't the only one who called out.

When Sun didn't respond at all to any of us, I looked toward Judgment, not knowing what I could do, what we could do, to help. In fact, we were all looking toward Judgment for guidance. Judgment gripped the Divine Judgment Sword, looking every bit like he was going to try to slash his way through the dark element, but a gloved hand stopped him. It belonged to the Sun who was staying with Moon. 

"Let us deal with it," he said and gestured at the Suns around him. Except for the Sun with curly hair and the Sun who had asked us who we were, all of them gave a nod and stepped forward, seemingly understanding what the first Sun was suggesting. Then, they all began releasing holy light, the most coming from white-haired Sun. Blue tossed me a wink before he too began releasing great amounts of holy light. He had not been exaggerating when he said that his holy light abilities were fairly good.

It was an amazing sight to behold, seeing and feeling the room fill up with holy light. Seven Suns had their hands raised to counter the ensnaring darkness. I clasped my hands tightly, praying that they would be able to successfully reach Sun. 

"Do you have the Eternal Tranquility?" The Sun who had stopped Judgment asked us. Not only was his appearance slightly more mature, he gave off a sense of security. When we shook our heads, he went on to ask, "What about the Divine Sun Sword?"

We shook our heads once more. The Divine Sun Sword, just like the Eternal Tranquility, had vanished along with Sun. In return, we now had ten Suns. Some of them had the Eternal Tranquility. Some of them had the Divine Sun Sword. Some didn't have one or the other. Black-haired Sun was one of the Suns who had neither. 

Mature-looking Sun frowned and touched the necklace that lay against his chest. "I guess there's no other choice then..."

Seeing the motion, several other Suns likewise reached for their own Eternal Tranquility, but one glance at the thick dark element stilled any thoughts of parting with their necklaces. They couldn't afford to.

However, mature-looking Sun kept his hand on his necklace. He turned toward white-haired Sun and asked, "Can you clear a path for me?"

White-haired Sun nodded. He stood at the front of the Suns, the holy element dancing at his fingertips. The other Suns also contributed what they could, but white-haired Sun was definitely the one who was releasing the most holy light. 

As the dark element partially cleared before us, the path only enough for one person, mature-looking Sun walked forward. He reached upward to unclasp the Eternal Tranquility that he wore, and then he even took off the Divine Sun Sword he had by his waist. Immediately, the gold from his hair faded. 

The farther away he walked from us, the less reach the Suns' holy light had. In the end, he had to use the Divine Sun Sword to forge the rest of his way, his progress greatly slowed. I thought I even saw black seeping into the roots of his hair. He clenched his hand tightly around the necklace. When he did so, the black receded just a bit. 

Seeing the situation, sword-wielding Sun ran forward, straight into the path that was already closing, releasing holy light as he went to widen the path for himself. White-haired Sun quickly gave him a helping hand, but sword-wielding Sun made most of his own path by slashing at the dark element with the Divine Sun Sword. When he caught up with the other Sun, he was rewarded with a thankful nod. 

Then, together, they finally reached black-haired Sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I thought the bath scene was going to turn awkward, but it actually came out... kind of... cute? :'D
> 
> Here's Blue~~~, sketched by Kiyutsuna. Can you believe she drew out all ten Suns? Masochistic or what. <3 It's so cool and epic to see~~. But spoilerish for what's to come in the fic, so I won't post all of them at once. XD


	4. Chapter 4

_Dearest Ann,_

_What would you do if you and your sisters suddenly had to take care of all of the tasks around the palace?_

_Would you enjoy it, or would you find it tiring?_

_I think I would find it soothing, being able to do something so mundane together._

_It really makes me feel that things are going to be okay, even if we're not quite there yet._

* * *

Leaf Bud City was currently a desolate city. After Sun had gone missing and we'd alerted the king, the king had immediately ordered for the city to be evacuated. Not only had we evacuated all the common folk in the city, we had also evacuated all of the servants in the Holy Temple. Our vice-captains and the rest of the holy knights in our platoons had helped with the evacuation, guiding everyone to safety. Although our vice-captains had wanted to stay behind to fight along our side, we had not allowed them to. 

If we were to fall, the vice-captains needed to be able to take our places. Hence, we had tasked them with a vital mission -- staying alive. Meanwhile, we, the Twelve Holy Knights and the Pope, had stayed behind to battle Charlotte and Stephen.

Because it had only been a day since the conclusion of the battle, we had yet to welcome the citizens back. This meant, other than us, the Holy Temple was currently empty. We would not have to explain to anyone why we had ten Suns running about. As long as the Suns didn't venture outside all at the same time, where they might be seen by the few royal guards who were still around, we would be fine.

On the flip side, with no one around, it meant that all the little things the servants and our vice-captains had done for us currently all had to be done by our own hands. 

Such as making breakfast.

I stirred the stew in front of me. Blue kept the fire going with fire magic.

Last night, I hadn't known how to save Sun from the dark element, but thanks to the other Suns, he had been stabilized. We hadn't been able to completely drive out the dark element, but at least he wasn't overwhelmed by it anymore. With the Eternal Tranquility around his neck and the Divine Sun Sword by his side, he had calmed down a lot, lucidity returning to him. With Metal's room completely destroyed, the two of them had moved to Sun's room. 

I felt a nudge from Blue, who said, "Don't worry too much. He'll be fine."

I wasn't complete reassured. "What about the other two Suns? Will they be okay?"

Mature-looking Sun had given up his Eternal Tranquility. Sword-wielding Sun had given up his Divine Sun Sword, which meant he now no longer had a sword. It seemed that the Eternal Tranquility was vital in keeping the dark element in check for Sun, while the Divine Sun Sword provided yet another layer of defense against the dark element. Both Suns could very well be in danger without these items. 

_What about Blue then?_

He had neither. I quickly looked him over. He tilted his head at me. From what I could sense, there didn't seem to be an imbalance of elements in him. _Is he not a demon king candidate, or is his candidacy still dormant? Does it even work like that?_

Whatever the case, I was glad he was okay. 

"I would hope the other versions of me aren't that stupid," Blue said. When I furrowed my brows, he went on to explain, "Wouldn't it be stupid if they saved the other guy but ended up endangering everyone else because they lost control instead? I would hate that!"

This sounded exactly like something Sun would think but never tell me. I hadn't even known Blue for very long, but he was already fine with telling me exactly what he was thinking. Maybe it was because he was the unrestrained Storm Knight. Unlike Sun, he had never had to speak long praises of the God of Light. Here was a Grisia who was not hiding behind pretty words. I found myself reaching out and giving him a pat on the head. I half expected him to swat my hand away, but Blue just grinned at me. 

"What, do you find me cute, Strawberry?" he quipped. Then, he even angled his head so I could reach better. 

"Good boy," I said with a smile and ruffled his hair. 

He batted at my hand. Sun would never have let me do this.

To our side, Ice and his Sun were also in the kitchen. The four of us were responsible for preparing breakfast for everyone. Twenty-one people was not a small number. The Pope was still asleep after casting Resurrection, but we'd included his share too. I had never had to cook for so many people before. Ice and I had been cooking for the Twelve Holy Knights for the past month, but now we had nearly double that number to cook for.

As I tended to the stew, I kept a careful eye on both Blue and Ice's Sun. Sun wasn't much of a cook and had always left the cooking to other people, such as Adair and Ice. When we had gone adventuring, Sun hadn't done any of the cooking, instead letting me make the stew and the others barbeque meat. He was only ever responsible for eating. With Sun's sweet tooth, I had been afraid that Blue and Ice's Sun would end up adding too much sugar in our breakfast or doing something else unacceptable with the seasonings, but surprisingly, nothing alarming had happened. I was able to add the seasonings to my liking. 

Blue was actually quite helpful with his magic. When I needed a fire, he started and kept one going for me with fire magic. When I wanted more water, he easily supplied it with water magic. The entire time, Ice's Sun had watched on with a curious expression on his face.

I was equally curious about him. Not only had he not accidentally destroyed the kitchen, he was actually quite skilled in food preparations. It wasn't even that he was taking a hands off approach like Blue, who was only helping out by using magic. Ice's Sun was actually cooking. It was so surprising that even Ice had paused momentarily when Sun had expertly cracked open the eggs without needing Ice to show him. He did not seem to be unused to the kitchen.

When he heard Blue call me Strawberry, he stopped in the middle of preparing the pancake mix. Blue eyes flicked over, his gaze landing on me. He seemed to be assessing me.

"Strawberry...?" he finally asked after looking me over.

I blinked. "Oh, um, yeah, you can call me that."

He stared a bit longer at me, and then he took to looking Ice over too. _Is he wondering if Ice also has a nickname?_

I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and hesitantly said, "It's kind of like my nickname. Sun... you gave it to me."

I did not know if this was our Sun, nor was I sure if he even considered himself "Sun." But unless told otherwise, each and every one of them was just like Sun to me. Even if they didn't consider themselves Sun, they were still my comrade, my friend, my brother. 

Just like Blue.

This particular Sun had asked us who we were, and he hadn't reacted when someone had called out "Sun." _Could it be that he's like Blue and isn't the Sun Knight? But even though Blue isn't the Sun Knight, he still knows us. He even calls me Strawberry._

"I do remember giving that nickname," Sun said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Even though I've never met any of you before, somehow you all feel... very familiar."

My heart skipped a beat. I sought out Ice, wondering if he had the same thoughts as me. _Could this be our Sun? Could it be that the price of Resurrection was his memories?_

Ice shook his head and gestured at the pancake mix this Sun was preparing. Even if Sun had lost his memories because of Resurrection, that wouldn't suddenly make him excel at cooking. I knew what Ice was trying to tell me. Something wasn't adding up. There was also the fact that this Sun could see. 

_But what if... what if the God of Light did give Sun his sight back?_

I had always wished that Sun could have his sight back. I reached a hand up towards the direction of my eyes. _If by forgetting us, Sun could have his sight back..._

_Would it be worth it?_

I could not help but ask, "Sun, have you forgotten us? Did you lose your memories?"

He froze momentarily. "Memories? Memories..." His voice trailed off, as if he were deep in thought. Then, he said, "You keep calling me Sun... Isn't he the spokesperson of the God of Light?"

The way he had spoken made it sound like he knew of Sun and of the God of Light, but his familiarity with each did not go past the surface level. 

It was Blue who responded. "What, you don't even know who Sun is? Do you know about the Twelve Holy Knights then?"

He hesitated but answered, "I know a little bit. Are you all part of the Twelve Holy Knights?" 

I nodded. "Yes, we're the Twelve Holy Knights. Sun is our leader... and one of you is likely to be our Sun Knight."

"So what Ecilan told me yesterday is true," he said. 

At those words, Ice paused in the middle of checking the oven. 

"Ice?" I asked.

He shook his head at me. Even though I was still worried, I could only return to the task on hand.

When we were nearly done preparing breakfast, Blue and Ice's Sun started carrying the food out. Blue used wind magic to levitate the food behind him while Ice's Sun watched on curiously once more. They chatted as they left the room. Ice's Sun did not seem to know magic and was listening with rapt attention as Blue rambled on. I watched them leave. This Sun, like Blue, did not possess the Eternal Tranquility nor the Divine Sun Sword. He did not think of himself as the Sun Knight. 

He wasn't even a fighter. 

The moment they left, Ice murmured, "He called me Ecilan."

I glanced over. Ice had turned in the direction the two of them had left in. He too had watched them leave. Ice's expressions had always been difficult to read. This one was no different, but from the way he still hadn't looked away from the door, I could tell that he was in deep thought. 

"He only ever called my name right when he lost his memories," Ice explained. 

"Do you think he might have lost his memories again?" I asked. _Do you think he might be our Sun?_

"I really don't know." Ice paused. "He's not acting like the time when he'd lost his memories, but..."

Ice would know. He had spent the longest time with amnesic Sun. 

Helpless, Ice peered down at the pies he was taking out of the oven. "Maybe these will help us figure things out."

I didn't know if pies would help or not, but Ice had always communicated with Sun through food, especially desserts. This could possibly help make things much clearer for Ice. He knew what Sun loved to eat the best.

_Just which one is our Sun?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a sketch of dark haired Sun by Kiyutsuna! Thanks to mature!Sun, he now has the Eternal Tranquility to keep him stable.  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

_Dearest Ann,_

_Have you and your sisters ever tried to make food for everyone in the palace?_

_I really enjoy making food._

_I really do._

_I just wonder if we have enough blueberries._

* * *

Ten Suns. Ten times the appetite. We had not been defeated by undead creatures or scheming enemies, but we may very well be defeated by Sun's terrifying stomach. 

I watched, eyes wide as the pies that Ice had made disappeared at a startling rate. It didn't surprise me that Blue greatly enjoyed blueberry pies -- although he wasn't Sun, he was just so similar that I'd be surprised if his tastes differed. I also already knew that Ice's Sun greatly enjoyed the pies too. He even helped taste test them in the kitchen. Perhaps one slice too many, even. 

What surprised me was that each and every one of the Suns couldn't seem to keep their hands off the pie. Not a single one of them refused the pie, not even sword-wielding Sun. But maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. A Sun that didn't like blueberry pie was unthinkable, and sword-wielding Sun was no exception. 

When he saw Ice walk in with the pies, his eyes had lit up, even though he had quickly looked elsewhere right after that. Several Suns watched him in amusement, while others were baffled.

"Don't tell me you can resist this?" Storm's Sun asked. A lock of his short hair fell in front of his face when he shook his head in disbelief. He impatiently shoved it back behind his ear, but it was a lost cause. 

Reluctant, sword-wielding Sun picked up his fork under the cajoling of the other Suns. But, his slice of pie soon disappeared. Immediately afterward, he grabbed another slice but blinked when he noticed it on his plate, as if he hadn't planned on having seconds, and his hand had moved of its own accord. He glumly poked at the pie with his fork, eyes shifting up to glance furtively at the others, like he hoped no one had seen him take a second slice. 

My heart thumped. _Can he see?_

I suspected that this question would never be far from my mind as I observed each and every Sun. I owed Sun too much.

"Hah, knew you wouldn't be able to resist!" Short-haired Sun exclaimed triumphantly. 

Mature-looking Sun who had saved black-haired Sun the night before nodded and smiled in a cheeky fashion that instantly made him look a lot less mature. "Resistance is futile~, but if you don't want that pie, you can always give it to me."

The moment he said those words, sword-wielding Sun moved his plate out of mature-looking Sun's reach. Sword-wielding Sun then said, "You know what, I've changed my mind." After that, he ate the pie without holding back.

Mature-looking Sun was anything but mature as he pouted.

I chuckled. 

Blue laughed as well and said, "I better eat my pie before someone takes it from me!"

While all that was happening, the Sun staying with Blaze was taking his time. He took a single bite of his share and closed his eyes, slowly chewing. It was like he was lost in the moment. Despite all the clamor around us, I found my eyes drawn to him, unable to look away.

"Sun?" I asked hesitantly.

The instant I asked that, several people swerved to look in my direction, yet the one I was asking didn't. When they noticed I wasn't addressing them, the other Suns followed my gaze toward the Sun who had his eyes closed as he savored the taste of Ice's homemade blueberry pie. He hadn't responded and was instead completely focused on the pie. 

Eventually, his eyes fluttered open. It might've been my imagination, but they almost seemed a bit... moist. He murmured, "I've missed this taste."

I bit my lips.

"What was that?" Blaze asked to the side.

Sun blinked a few times and then smiled widely, his smile much more natural than the one he had on the day before. "Everything was so hectic before this, and I was kept in captivity by Charlotte for over a month! It's been too long since I last had one of Ice's masterpieces. Now, I finally feel alive again! I'm sooo touched!"

The Sun that was staying with Judgment nodded in full agreement, mouth too stuffed with pie to speak.

"You okay, Strawberry?" Blue asked me.

I slid my eyes toward him and gave him a small smile to reassure him.

On the other side, white-haired Sun was happily eating slices of pie as well, declaring that the sweetness was really just right. Black-haired Sun sat next to him while clutching the Eternal Tranquility to himself. They were a stark contrast to each other, one brimming with holy element and the other overflowing with dark element. 

White-haired Sun nudged him and placed a slice of pie before him. "Stop looking so gloomy already! Have some pie!"

"I'm afraid that if I let go of this gem, I'll go insane..." Black-haired Sun whispered.

"Nonsense!" White-haired Sun said. "You're sitting in a room full of holy element! It probably feels suffocating to you, but it also means that you won't lose control! Besides, when all else fails, _I'm_ here."

Sun had always had good control over the holy element, but white-haired Sun truly took it to a whole new level. Having him here to help black-haired Sun was more than we could have wished for.

Black-haired Sun nodded, hands slowly unclenching bit by bit. Then, he took a deep breath and forced himself to completely let go all at once. He froze. When nothing happened, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"See? Now eat up!" White-haired Sun handed a fork over. 

I breathed a sigh of relief too, glad that black-haired Sun would be able to enjoy the pies with us. Still, it was worrying that his condition was so unstable even with the Eternal Tranquility and the Divine Sun Sword by his side.

Soon, even the last pie disappeared. The Sun who was staying with Judgment took the last slice before any of the other Suns could take it. He flashed everyone a cheeky smile, much like the one mature-looking Sun had earlier.

"Hey, no fair!" Wavy-haired Sun exclaimed.

Sun responded by sticking his tongue out.

I could only chuckle, glad to have them with us. I much preferred a scene like this than ever seeing a lifeless Sun lying on top of the conference table.

As we all continued with our breakfast, compliments about the food were freely given. Everyone present thought that Ice and I had outdone ourselves, cooking up enough food to serve such a huge crowd. I smiled and said, "Sun and Blue helped out a lot."

Sun and "cooking" did not normally belong in the same sentence, and even Sun knew it himself. 

Everyone looked our way.

"You cook?" One of the Suns asked the two of them. 

Ice's Sun merely shrugged. "I get by."

"You're called Blue?" Someone else asked.

It was obvious that Blue was the one being asked about his nickname, and everyone immediately turned his way. Although Sun and "cooking" was a big topic, a Sun with blue hair was quite a topic too. He merely waved his hand in the air and explained that calling him Blue would be much easier than calling him Grisia.

"I've been wondering," Storm suddenly spoke up, "but I can't quite believe my own conclusions. Don't tell me..."

"You're right as always! I'm sure it's exactly like what you're thinking." Blue even bowed with a flourish. "I'm Storm, at your service. But since it might get confusing with both of us getting called that, you can call me Blue." When he straightened back up, he looked Storm over curiously. "Though I can't quite believe it either. To think I'd see _you_ with blue hair!"

I blinked and looked back and forth between Storm and Blue, who both had long, blue hair. Not since Storm's teacher had retired had I last seen such a scene -- two people with blue hair, sitting in the same room. _Right, Blue is the Storm Knight, so Storm can't be Storm there. Is Storm still one of the Twelve Holy Knights?_

From Blue's words, it definitely sounded like he knew Storm. It even sounded like...

"Blue, who is your Sun?" I asked. I had been wondering since the previous night.

In the meantime, short-haired Sun was mumbling to himself, likely voicing what all of them thought. "I can't believe it. There's a me out there who isn't the Sun Knight?" 

The corners of Blue's lips lifted. It was more of a mischievous smile than anything, but was it really possible that he harbored no feelings whatsoever for the position of the Sun Knight? 

"It's this guy, of course!" He said, casually jerking his thumb to the side to point out the other blue-haired guy in the room.

I stared.

Storm was his Sun Knight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a sketch of sword-wielding Sun by Kiyutsuna! (You know you can't resist blueberry pie~~)  
> 


End file.
